Historic Temple

PRECIOUS
MEMORIES
FLORIST &
GIFT SHOP
Precious Memories Florist & Gift Shop
celebrates nearly thirty years of service across
the Central Texas area offering in excess of
147 years of design experience to its customers.
The shop’s original owners Malissa and
Rex Baugh began Precious Memories as a
home-based business before moving to locations
on Fifty-Seventh Street, Avenue M and Thirty-
First Street.
Temple native Seleese Thompson purchased
the business from the Baughs in 2003
and, although she had never assembled a
bouquet, her experience in sales and
management with Texas Instruments served
her well as she watched the success of her
company bloom.
Enlisting the help of longtime floral artist
and design-room manager Norman Northen
to handle the florals, Thompson focused
on expanding her new shop’s services and
sales. Just four and a half years later she
has picked up a thing or two in the realm
of floral knowledge and the shop has continued
to thrive, and, as of 2006, had been voted
Temple’s best florist for five consecutive years,
starting one year prior to its sale to Thompson.
This accomplishment got her noticed and
named as the 2007 National Retail Florist by
Florist Review Magazine. Precious Memories is
the first florist in Texas and the first singlelocation
florist to be honored with the
prestigious award.
In May 2006, Precious Memories relocated to
the historic Beimers Fine Jewelry location at
1404 South Thirty-First Street, remodeling the
building to showcase a broad line of gift
merchandise and featuring the talented
designers in view of browsing customers.
Thompson is the proud mother of two and
an active volunteer for several service and
community organizations, including the
Chamber of Commerce. She knows that being
involved in the growth of the Temple
community is critical to the success of its
children and businesses.
For more information, please visit Precious
Memories at www.preciousmemoriesflorist.com.
❖
Above: Vibrant scarlet red is a
signature hue at Precious Memories
Florist & Gift Shop, as is
demonstrated in the shop's red-clad
exterior. Gorgeous eye catching
window displays create vignettes of
color and theme for the interest of the
passing community.
Below: Seleese Thompson with
daughter Faith, a junior at Temple
High School, and son Grant, a
sixth-grader attending Bonham
Middle School.
Sharing the Heritage ✦ 121